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| Medical professionals risk missing signs of domestic violence, warns health chief | Medical professionals risk missing signs of domestic violence, warns health chief |
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| Healthcare professionals have been told they are not prepared for the reality of violence against women. | Healthcare professionals have been told they are not prepared for the reality of violence against women. |
| Prof Dame Sally Davies issued the warning at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists conference in Bishopsgate, central London, after the release of her annual health report. | Prof Dame Sally Davies issued the warning at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists conference in Bishopsgate, central London, after the release of her annual health report. |
| The chief medical officer said: “I was horrified that actually we compare very badly to our comparator countries on violence against women and that then means we have got to start thinking about not only the causes but actually are we picking it up? And then do we have the people or the tools or the skills to deal with it when we have picked it up? | The chief medical officer said: “I was horrified that actually we compare very badly to our comparator countries on violence against women and that then means we have got to start thinking about not only the causes but actually are we picking it up? And then do we have the people or the tools or the skills to deal with it when we have picked it up? |
| “Imagine, we live in a country where more than 350,000 women every year are survivors of sexual violence and 1.4 million of women a year experience domestic violence. That’s England. I was shocked by the data, although I know many of you as experts in this field will have known it. | “Imagine, we live in a country where more than 350,000 women every year are survivors of sexual violence and 1.4 million of women a year experience domestic violence. That’s England. I was shocked by the data, although I know many of you as experts in this field will have known it. |
| “Why have we got rates of violence against women well above the average for Europe? Violence is associated with mental illness, physical injury and suicide, and I don’t believe from what I have been told that our present graduate system or postgraduate education truly prepares the full range of healthcare professionals for this reality of violence against women. | |
| “It is very difficult if we are not aware of it, and if we don’t learn how to raise the issues we will miss it, and I don’t want us missing it. Women are suffering. They lose self-esteem onces this starts to happen. It is very difficult for them. There are multiple opportunities to interact with the health of women, but you know the women don’t know and I wonder how many other people do.” | “It is very difficult if we are not aware of it, and if we don’t learn how to raise the issues we will miss it, and I don’t want us missing it. Women are suffering. They lose self-esteem onces this starts to happen. It is very difficult for them. There are multiple opportunities to interact with the health of women, but you know the women don’t know and I wonder how many other people do.” |
| Davies added that after five years in her post, she felt it was time to publish a report focusing on women to “shine a light on some taboo subjects that no one talks about” and to “explore women’s health through the lens of human rights”. | Davies added that after five years in her post, she felt it was time to publish a report focusing on women to “shine a light on some taboo subjects that no one talks about” and to “explore women’s health through the lens of human rights”. |
| She said people outside of the medical profession found it difficult to talk about issues such as menopause, incontinence and death. “We need to talk about these things,” she said. | |
| Her 30-minute address did include the issue of obesity, which the report suggested should be treated as a threat with the same seriousness as terrorism. | Her 30-minute address did include the issue of obesity, which the report suggested should be treated as a threat with the same seriousness as terrorism. |